Lifelines - memories and character generation

This is the clincher. This is where all the custom moves comes in, and the hack really shapes into my own thing. Some of you may remember I wrote this in the origianl Source Code thread:

Lifepaths
Design goal:
I love the way the playbooks take you by the front of your shirt and trust you through character generation. This isn't really obvious until you play the game. But it is there and it works like hell. So I got this idea.

It starts, for the moment, with the ideas for some templates. This will be important later. They are:
o   Warewolves – augmented soldiers and veterans.
o   Ghostwalkers – manipulators of the Floating World.
o   Hard Cases – street operators and muscle.
o   Runners/Transporters – movers of information and hardware.
o   Negotiators – settles scores, one way or the other.
o   Players – true manipulators of people and the hidden market.

Right now these are more placeholders for my concepts. I really want to take that shirtgrabby bit from the playbooks and add a bit of lifepath (think old CP 2013/2020) touch to it, with choices made opening some doors and closing others.

What follows is where this has led me.

Moving on

“My own past had gone down years before, lost with all hands, no trace. I understood Fox’s late-night habit of emptying his wallet and shuffling through his identification. He’d lay the pieces out in different patterns, rearrange them, wait for a picture to form. I knew what he was looking for. You did the same with your childhoods.” – William Gibson, New Rose Hotel

Imagine a sheet, A5 landscape, covered by hexagons. Between each hex there is a circle or space to write something. Inside the hex there is room for a few things. Now the things that go in the circles we call DETAILS. We are going to call the hexagons MEMORIES and the things inside the memory depends on where the hex is, but they are either ORIGIN or THEME. Then there is also room for a DEVELOPMENT in a memory. One of these memories will contain a LIABILITY instead of a development.

• Memories – these are moments in time that are core to who the Operator is. These have no linear development or linkage. They are moments in time, they may be separated by years or moments. It isn’t important at the beginning. Instead of building a character by following the progression A, B, C , D and so on we look to build a bunch of moments associated by details in the memories. We do not define whether the memory is a good or bad memory.
• Details – an operator’s memories are linked by the details. What the detail means in relation to the two different memories it is associated with depends on how you interpret it there and then in play. The details are the key because they may change as a consequence of SOURCE CODE CORRUPTION. You mark of on the detail if it is altered.
• Origin – only one of the memories is called the Origin. This marks the operator’s formative years, up until sie began on the path that would lead hir to game start. The development here is either SINless or 1W. The details here link the operator into the next memory.
• Theme – theme is the overall nature of the memory. What the operator was at the time. This gives different choices when it comes to developments, and much formats the function of the character in play.
• Development – as you build the operators memories each gives you a choice of developments. Most noticeable of these are the MOVES and the CONTRACTS. You get to pick one pr. memory. Moves are custom moves that defines the operators abilities and specialties when freelancing. Contracts gives the operator the opportunity to earn credit during downtime or between session that may be spent to maintain SOTA.
• Liability – all operators also have picked up at least one liability. These must be worked along with the contracts to avoid the fallout from occurring.
  

The operators are skilled and competent individuals who have led interesting lives. Initially one should create an operator with five memories, plus origin and the liability memory. Creating a memory is all about picking a theme, and then following the flowchart progress through the memory creation, picking details, moves and contracts from the lists as they pop up. The balance between moves and contracts is up to you. But not being SOTA ‘cause you don’t have enough work, well that is just plain stupid.

Here is the thing. As play progresses, if a memory has had three of its associated details altered then it becomes corrupted. Using a corrupted memory gives one transient. Unless … yes there is an unless.
But first, a word from our sponsors.
BIOMEGA - We build a better You.

A word on themes:
Themes were initially envisioned to be character archtypes for the players to choose form. As I spent time thinking about the structure of the lifepathsystem, I felt this became sort of tacked on. I couldn't quite make it fit.

And then in a stroke of insomnic frustration I had the idea that themes should have two purposes.

The first is to provide the color of the flow-chart that guides you through the generation of that memory.
e.g.
Warewolf - being a more war, direct action and heavy combat influnenced memory.
Negotiator - being more a black ops, stealth, assasination influenced memory.

The second is to organise and color the character built with these memories through the type of moves offered.
Warewolf – shell based moves. The core of this theme is the dissociation of human flesh and old skool cyberpsychosis, the forsaking of human frailty for machined perfection.
Negotiator – sleeve based moves. The core of this theme is rapid change, flesh is disposable, and an addiction to the sensations and frailty of the flesh.
Hard Case – moves from the street. The core of this theme is social adaptability, with a raw edge and desperation as heavy fuel.
Player – moves that play with your mind. The core of this theme is the social camouflage, using sex, credits and base instincts to prey on the unwary.
Transporter – moves that are all about motion. The core of this theme is movement through and manipulation of the environment and hardware.
Ghostwalker – moves that manipulate the floating world. The core of this theme is about the crossing of realities, making the A.R. bend to your will or shape the Interface through thought.
Wraith – moves that attack your ghost. The core here is the violation of the mind, the digital soul and those that prey on it.

I see this pushing play in my wanted direction.